Some organisations talk about the need for their people to be fully committed. Different people will, however, have different interpretations of commitment.
Some people commit themselves fully to a cause, group, movement, team or organisation. They throw themselves into it completely and it occupies much of their life.
Some people take a different approach. Whilst they are committed to making a contribution to an organisation, for example, they may also be pursuing other activities in their lives or work.
Different people follow these approaches in different ways. Let’s explore these themes.
The Committed Approach
Some leaders insist that they want people to be committed to their organisation. The question is: What do they mean by that? Do they want people:
To be committed to the organisation’s purpose? To be committed to the organisation’s leaders? To be committed to the organisation – whatever it does?
Different leaders may also measure commitment in different ways. Some may judge a person’s commitment by whether or not they are prepared:
To do superb quality work … To put in masses of hours whatever the sacrifice … To do other things – legal or not – to help the organisation to achieve success.
Some individuals commit themselves to an organisation’s purpose, principles. and picture of success. They choose to take this step this because they believe in:
What the organisation is doing … Why they are doing it … How they are doing it.
Such people align their efforts to achieve the organisation’s goals. There may be times, however, when they question certain decisions. Providing they get a satisfactory answer, they will recommit themselves to helping the organisation to achieve success.
The commitment to an organisation approach has both pluses and minuses. Much depends, of course, on whether the organisation has a healthy or unhealthy culture.
The pluses can include having people: a) who focus on the purpose; b) who follow the principles; c) who do their best to achieve the picture of success.
The minuses can include having people: a) who burn themselves out or pay the price in their personal lives; b) who follow orders without considering the consequences; c) who may act as if they are in a cult.
Let’s explore another way that people may do fine work for a cause, group, movement, team or organisation
The Being Committed To
Making A Contribution Approach
Some people follow this approach. They are happy to build on their strengths and make a positive contribution to helping an organisation to succeed.
They give 100 percent when making this contribution. They aim to be positive and professional. They also encourage other people in the organisation to help to achieve the picture of success.
They tend to value their independence, however, rather than give their total body and soul to an organisation. They have a certain perspective and focus on what they believe is important in life.
Such individuals may be full-time employees, contractors, associates, consultants or play another role. They each make a conscious decision to opt-in, however, and then do their best to make a positive contribution.
They may have positive feelings but also reservations about organisations. They recognise the pluses include having the power to scale things, working with superb people and delivering great results.
They also recognise there certain things they can’t control. These include whether the organisation makes good decisions, always follows its principles and is able to deliver sustainable success.
Such individuals are prepared to do their best to make this happen. They prefer to do this by focusing on their life principles, however, and periodically set aside time to taking the following steps.
They make a clear contract with themselves about whether or not they want to continue making a contribution to the organisation;
They then, if so, make a clear contract with the key stakeholders about their contribution to the organisation;
They perform superb work, encourage their colleagues and do their best to make a positive contribution to the organisation.
Let’s return to your own work. What is your preferred way of making a positive contribution to an organisation. How can you do this in a way that works for you and for the organisation?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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